Our Fitness Blog

Is it all Just a Bunch of Lies?

When you are on the quest to be your best…what number do you live by? Are you on the scale every day obsession over every pound? If you do this…I emplore you. STOP.

Open your mind and please hear me out. A traditional scale is only going to show you ONE thing. Pounds. If you think that’s enough information, please read on…Let’s say you get on the scale and you’ve lost a pound. Let’s say you’ve gained a pound. Guess what? You still don’t know anything new about your body.

A pound of what? Fat? Water? Muscle?

Trust me. With a traditional scale you have NO IDEA what that pound represents.

So, does that mean we NEVER weigh ourselves? Certainly not. We just weigh SMARTER. For best accuracy, you need a body fat/body water scale. The brand I use is Tanita, because it does a great job and it’s only around $50. I bought mine online. Bottom line: either buy a REAL scale or stop weighing yourself altogether and go by how your clothes fit!

Seriously. How your clothes fit is an easy peasy way to tell if the fat is going or staying. Do you see less spillover on the muffin top…do you see less bra bulge? That’s a good sign, right!?

I actually don’t understand the big deal with the actual number on the scale being so important. It baffles me when I hear this: “I haven’t lost one pound, but my clothes are looser. I’m so frustrated.” I can’t understand this type of mentality because isn’t it the goal really to take up less space and our clothes to fit better? I mean THAT’S what people SEE. They see your shape, not the number you weigh. We don’t walk around with numbers on us, we walk around looking how we look. Period.

So, if you can accept that no matter what you weigh, you look like you look, then you can change your focus on changing your shape not changing your number. If you change your shape, the number will follow….eventually.

Here’s just a few more examples of why the traditional scale is so far off in accuracy.

A lady GAINS a pound her first week of starting a new fitness program….What she doesn’t know: Because she has started to drink more water her muscles absorbed this like sponges, they are therefore heavier. She actually lost ½ pound of fat, but the scale shows a gain of one pound. She’s depressed and stops being motivated.

A lady starts to feel her clothes are looser! She gets excited and weighs herself. Her weight is the exact same as when she started. This discourages her, EVEN THOUGH she was SEEING PHYSICAL RESULTS. Her enthusiasm goes down a bit and she’s just not as motivated as before….

A lady gains 5 pounds after exercising for a few months. She shrugs her shoulders and says, “Muscle weighs more than fat. I’ve gained muscle.” EVEN THOUGH her clothes are fitting TIGHTER….she denies the fact that because of all her increase in activity, her appetite has naturally increased, but she’s been making wrong choices to fill that need, and it has negatively affected her waist line.

As you can see, the scale doesn’t tell the truth unless you’re standing on the right scale.

If you don’t want to buy a body fat/body water scale, then you need to switch your focus completely because as an educated person. Switch your focus to getting stronger and feeling good in your clothes, and feeling good in your SKIN! Remember, fit people who are truly losing body fat are going to look better and better naked 

In conclusion, follow these two tips when weighing yourself on a body fat/body water scale:

For true accuracy, only note the pounds you weigh in the early morning before eating but immediately after emptying your bladder.

For body fat and water readings, only read these in the evening, right before dinner.

Remember, if we want real results we need to focus on getting stronger! So, here’s one of my favorite total body exercises that focuses INTENSELY on the belly, but hits the arms and back as well. Enjoy!

Heather Hudson has been with 9Round since inception in 2008 and is COO and Co-Founder of 9Round Franchising. She is a black belt in Shotokan Karate and grew up with a passion for fitness and overall wellness.